Land Economy, Environment & Society

Vision

The vision for the Land Economy, Environment and Society (LEES) Research Group is to be internationally-recognised leaders in social, economic and environmental research, benefiting agriculture, the environment and rural communities.

Rural community resilience, making recommendations on the challenges and opportunities facing rural communities

How we do it

We take an integrated approach, because this is necessary to address complex problems and society’s “grand challenges”. We examine how individual elements are connected and interdependent, for example at ecosystem-level, in food supply chains, in individual consumer behaviours, in innovation and innovative behaviours, and in rural society and communities’ resilience.

Why we do it

Our research is designed to make a difference – for those with whom we carry out the research, for a range of stakeholders, and in policy. This reflects one of SRUC’s Core Values. We work in partnerships, engage with people ‘on the ground’ in a number of countries, and ensure, through active Knowledge Exchange, that our research is of maximum value.

Our research is policy-focused. We examine present policies as well as future scenarios, plus associated impacts. We are active in feeding our research into the policy process, in Scotland, the UK, Europe and further afield. To be able to do this, we nurture our direct links with policy, and as Associates of SRUC’s Rural Policy Centre.